Tonight I saw my last play in the Lansburgh Theatre, Harold Pinter’s Old Times. The director’s notes referred to this a a modern classic. It was written in 1970. I was definitely different from most of the plays I’ve seen recently. A very minimalist set, all in white with a few pieces of white furniture, and only three actors (all of whom were on stage most of the time). The play was fairly short, just over an hour and a half including a 15 minute intermission.
It was all about the words (and the pacing with which they were delivered), which started out seemingly mundane, but seemed to carry more meaning than their surface impression. The actors, all American, spoke with British accents. Although all of the play took place in the present, sub-conversations among different pairs of actors seemed to jump back and forth in time between the present and 20 years previously. I really don’t know what it was about, but it made you think and try to figure it out. The play was interesting, but I was glad it was brief. I could also have lived without several waves of smoking.
One interesting aspect was that two of the actors were recognizable from their work on television, although I didn’t recognize their names. The lead male (Steven Culp), was the fellow who played the conservative foil to the president on The West Wing, and one of the female leads was recognizable from a number of character roles (Tracy Lynn Middendorf).